


the rest is history

by starkrcmanoff



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: M/M, it's short and fluffy, librarian and bookworm AU, steve is the librarian, tony is the bookworm
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-07
Updated: 2019-02-07
Packaged: 2019-10-23 23:10:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17692931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starkrcmanoff/pseuds/starkrcmanoff
Summary: tony needs to find a new bookstore because his last one shut down





	the rest is history

**Author's Note:**

> so i found this account on twitter that gave AU ideas, and I scrolled through it until i found one that i liked : "librarian and bookworm AU"
> 
> I'm bilingual but english isn't my first language so I'm sorry if there are any mistakes in the text
> 
> have fun

To say that Tony Stark was in love with books was an understatement. Was there a term stronger than being in love to express how we felt about something? Find it, then apply it to Tony, and even then, it wouldn’t be strong enough. Tony lived for books, and we won’t talk about those he owned. There was something about them. It was possibly because they were the doors to countless universes. It was particularly because it made Tony forget. Forget that his life wasn’t perfect, forget that sometimes he was overwhelmed. When Tony read, he lost himself in the words, his mind went elsewhere.

He had a countless amount of books at home, he lost the count when he reached four hundreds, and you couldn’t see the walls of his living room because of all the bookshelves. See, one of Tony’s problems was that he had absolutely no self-control when it came to books. He just _had_ to buy one whenever he walked before the bookstore – and it happened pretty much every day. So when his bookstore shut down because the owner moved, it was his worst nightmare becoming reality, the end of his life. Tony absolutely needed to find a new bookstore.

 

And he did. Not even one day later, he found one not too far away from his university and he could breathe again. He might have spent his day looking for it, might have missed classes for this, but Tony needed his books, thank you very much. But Tony was still somehow reasonable, and so he didn’t go to that bookstore until he was done with work for the day – which required a gigantic strength but he succeeded. More or less. Let’s say, he wasn’t on his best day to study for his classes.

 

The bookstore was something else. Honestly. For a moment, Tony thought he was in heaven. First of all, because of the smell. See, for the bookworm he was, the smell of old books mixed with those of tea and coffee – because there was a café in the bookstore – was one of his favourite things. Secondly, because it looked cosy, warm. It looked like home. Tony loved it. He had stars in his eyes, that’s how much he loved it.

Tony spent about two hours in the store, taking books in his hands, observing and assessing them, skimming the ones that looked interesting. When he figured out what he was going to buy, he walked to the till. That’s when he saw him.

 Maybe the books weren’t the only piece of art of that place. See, the shop assistant was beautiful, really beautiful. He looked young, around Tony’s age actually. His smile was small but warm, his eyes dashing. And he was tall. Very tall.

 

“Hi, there,” the boy said with a voice that was soft and warm. “Do you want to by this?”

“Uh, yes, thank you.”

“That’s a very good choice you made” the young man said as he took the books from Tony. He had taken Hamlet and Alice in Wonderland.

“Yeah, they’re part of my favourite books. I already have them at home actually, but those editions are wonderful, and I just had to buy them.”

“Book lover, huh?”

“Understatement of the year, if I’m honest. Are you?”

“Yeah, I guess you could say that. I mean, I like them enough to work here.”

“Is the store yours?”

“It’s my mum’s. I work here when I’m not studying or in class. I’m Steve, by the way.”

“I’m Tony. And you can tell your mum that it’s a really, really beautiful place.”

 

When Tony got home, he realized something : he needed to reorganize his bookshelves. And build the one he bought the other day. It was only 5 pm so he buckled down to the task. He put his playlist on, playing the music on his speaker, and sat on the floor. One hour later, he admired his work : the bookshelf was built and standing next to the others : it looked beautiful. He then started to remove all the books of the shelves. He did this pretty often, but if he was honest, he loved it. There was something soothing about trying to find a way to organize his books. Trying to find where each book belonged. It always took him hours to do this, because he applied to this task with deep thought. Tony loved his books, loved the aesthetic of his shelves, so everything had to be perfect.

 

~

 

Perhaps Tony spent a lot of time in the bookstore. Perhaps he went there every day. See, Tony loved studying, but he always has trouble setting aside his distractions to fully concentrate. So, when he saw the bookstore had a café, he decided it would be a good idea to spent a few hours per day there so he could study. It worked. Tony really could focus on the work he had to do for his classes and the assignments he had to do. If he had spare time, he took the book on his bag and read for a few hours. So, it worked. Until that time when he noticed Steve and he decided to sit next to him. And they met again the day after. And the day after that.

 

If Tony was honest with himself, he would have realised it had been a bad idea as much as it had been a good idea. Steve was beautiful, and kind, and Tony and him went on extremely well. Tony loved spending time with him, loved speaking with him. The more time they spent together, the closer they grew. But Steve was also a huge distraction for Tony, for the exact same reasons. Tony couldn’t spend a day at the café without wondering when Steve would come, when was his break, when they would meet again, and he couldn’t entirely focus on his work. Which was bad. Still, they kept talking.

  

Through this, they became friends.

 

By hanging together, Tony learnt a lot about Steve. And Steve learnt a lot about Tony too. At first, they were a bit shy, for they didn't know each other really well. But now, things were different, and Tony and Steve were as close as two fingers of a hand. There was however a slight problem : Tony liked Steve. And not only as a friend.

 

“Look. He's handsome and nice. I like him” said Tony one day to his best friend.

“As in, like like him?”

“Yes, Rhodes. As in like like him.”

“Oh wow. Alright. Last time it happened, it was with Pepper. Alright. So what are you going to do, now?”

“I’m not sure. What if he doesn't like me back ?”

“You won't go far in life with what ifs, Tones.”

 

Rhodey was right, Tony knew this. But how could he ask the perfect and beautiful Steve out?

 

~

 

“Alright so this Glapieu is the bad guy in the end?”

“What? Steve. Did you listen to a word I said ?”

“But you said he tried to steal the money…”

“So he could give it back to whom it really belonged. Steve, Glapieu is the good buy here, the bad guy, the one who manipulated everyone, it's Rousseline.”

“And this Baron, he's the father of Cyprienne? And God why are those names so difficult ?”

“It's Victor Hugo, babe. He always chooses weird names for his characters.”

“About that, why are you reading Hugo? Aren't you studying English literature, _babe_?”

“Yeah. But I wanted to read a few of his books. Also, subtle way to approach the nickname, Steve, really.”

 

“Go out with me.”

“What?”

“Go out with me? Please?”

“As in… a date?”

“If you don't want to it's alright really, I just thought that it could be nice, and we already spend so much time together in your bookstore and I like you so I wanted to… ask you out. Which I just did. Twice. Please say yes so I can shut up.”

“Yes. I will go on a date with you, Tony Stark.”

 

First, it was one date. Then it was a second one, and a third one. The rest is history. All you have to know is that Tony is in love with books and that maybe it’s what made Steve fall in love with him.

  


            

 

 


End file.
